House Sitting Adventures

I am taking a different approach with today's prompt (something I've been doing a lot with this challenge, but that's beside the point!). Today's prompt is

Drive 30 minutes away from your home and explore a new side of town.

Now Kevin and I have been semi homeless since June. We've had a place to stay but we are house sitting, it's not a place we can call our own. So I thought I would take a moment to discuss our House Sitting Adventures because what an adventure it has been!

Yard work

Lawn Mowing - My second job as a teenager was mowing lawns. By then we lived on the farm and I was mowing a friend of the families yard. I had an awesome riding lawn mower and drove it nice and slow in order to read my book while 'working'. House sitting in the subburbs of a city is a totally different matter, thank goodness for an amazing husband. He mows the lawn and I rake it before hand.

Raking - Why do I rake it before hand?? Pine cones... there are a ton of pine cones in the front yard. Took me a week to realize that the lovely tree in the front yard was the culprit. It does not look like a pine tree but it has a million and two cones.

Weeds - When we had been living here for three or so weeks. In that time the weeds have grown and grown. Weed picking is terrible and involved gloves, shovels, a pick and a million red biting ants. I got a quarter of the way through before I hid in the house. Stupid ants.

Other Outside Responsibilities

Taking Out the Trash - Beside yard work there are things like taking out the trash that we have never had to do. It's not that complicated, every Monday night we roll the bin down the driveway and on to the street. It gets empty the next day. The questions started coming when we mowed the lawn. Do you bag the grass clippings or toss it in? What about glass?

Lighting - The another perk about apartment living is the place is always lit! There are lights on all entrances and exits and every hallway has lights. Now we have to remember to turn on our own lights if we know we are going to be coming home late. And then we have no idea what to do about the renter downstairs! Do we turn the garage light on for her? Or the main house light or nothing?

Inside the House

Shared or Not Shared Laundry - We have been blessed with a house that includes a ton of square feet, air conditioning, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, an office, massive kitchen and dining area. But the most important thing is the laundry room!! OMG not having to share laundry is amazing and while I won't do it at two in the morning, it's nice to turn it on and walk away!

Two bathrooms - Guess who can get up at 6am and have a bath... for three hours! And not worry about Kevin waking up and needing to pee! The only thing is purple hair in white showers usually means I color everything wherever I go! Thank goodness for VIM!

White, White, WHITE - I have always thought I would want a white kitchen! With a white sink and all the joys of bright whiteness! Now all I can see is how bloody awful that stuff is to clean!! White sink - never again!! White cabinets - Not happening!! Give me chrome and black. I'll take some windows and no space to avoid deep cleaning every time I do something.

The Best Part

The best part of house sitting. Is the peace that comes with having your own space. While it's not home and I'm lost without my books. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to enjoy this living space. It's a great opportunity to learn about myself for when I do eventually become a homeowner.

VHS movies

So sure we didn't drive 30 minutes to explore a new side of town. But we have done allot of exploring and discovery right where we are!

P.S. also she left me this note with all these great oldies!! I sure have been enjoying them!